Zootopia, Kubo and the Two Strings win big at Annie Awards

Zootopia climbed yet another rung on the road toward the Oscars, leading the pack of 2017 Annie Awards contenders with six total wins at last night’s ceremony.

On top of victories for its character design, Jason Bateman’s voice acting, and Byron Howard and Rich Moore’s co-direction, the Disney production earned the International Animated Film Association’s top honor, taking the best animated feature award over Finding Dory, Kubo and the Two Strings, Kung Fu Panda 3, and Moana.

Since the Academy introduced a separate category for animated films in 2002, the Annies’ best feature winner has gone on to win the corresponding Oscar 10 times.

Also nominated in the Academy’s top category for animated films, Kubo and the Two Strings earned three Annies for its production design, character design, and editorial production. On Jan. 24, Kubo, the fourth feature film from stop-motion studio Laika, became the first animated feature to bag a nod in the Academy’s best visual effects category since 1993’s The Nightmare Before Christmas.

On the specialty front, festival favorite The Red Turtle, a Studio Ghibli release that had its world premiere at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival last May, earned the organization’s best animated independent film award, while the animated effects in several live-action films (Doctor Strange, The Jungle Book) also earned individual Annie accolades.

“It was a big year for animation all around. We saw a huge number of projects, great diversity of subjects and styles and increasing international participation,” Frank Gladstone, Annie Awards executive producer, said in a statement. “Animation’s positive impact on communities worldwide was evident throughout the evening. It was a great night.”

Of 2016’s top 10 earners at the domestic box office, four titles — Finding Dory ($486.3 million), The Secret Life of Pets ($368.4 million), Zootopia ($341.3 million), and Sing ($262.9 million and counting) — were animated.

A complete stream of the Annie ceremony — featuring presenters like Jenna Elfman, Kobe Bryant, and Moana voice actress Auli’i Cravalho — is available here. Check out the full list of 2017 Annie Awards winners (bolded per the Annie’s official website) below.

Best Animated Feature

Finding Dory – Pixar Animation Studios

Kubo and the Two Strings – LAIKA

Kung Fu Panda 3 – DreamWorks Animation

Moana – Walt Disney Animation Studios

Zootopia – Walt Disney Animation Studios

Best Animated Feature – Independent

Long Way North – Produced by Sacrebleu Productions, Maybe Movies, Norlum Studios, France 3 Cinéma and 2 Minutes